''Day Zero'' is a 2007 American film directed by Bryan Gunnar Cole and written by Robert Malkani. Set in the near future when global terrorism has forced the military to reinstate the draft, three young men, who have just received their induction notices and have 30 days to report for duty, must battle their political views before making a decision that will change their lives forever.
This is American director Cole's debut film. It premiered at the 2007
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...
and opened in
limited release in the United States on January 18, 2008. The film stars
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012).
Woo ...
,
Chris Klein and
Jon Bernthal
Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor.
Beginning his career in the early 2000s, he came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where ...
. It also features
Ginnifer Goodwin
Jennifer Michelle "Ginnifer" Goodwin (born May 22, 1978) is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series ''Big Love'' (2006–2011) and Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fan ...
,
Sofia Vassilieva
Sofia Vladimirovna Vassilieva (born October 22, 1992) is an American actress. Notable roles include portraying the children's book character Eloise in '' Eloise at the Plaza'' and '' Eloise at Christmastime'', Ariel DuBois in the Emmy-winning ...
,
Elisabeth Moss
Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...
and
Ally Sheedy
Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress. Following her film debut in 1983's '' Bad Boys'', she became known as one of the Brat Pack group of actors and starred in '' WarGames'' (1983), ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985) ...
.
Plot
In the future America, the
military draft
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...
has been reinstated to fight the
war on terror
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...
. The country's conflicting attitudes toward war are examined through the eyes of Aaron (
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012).
Woo ...
), George (
Chris Klein), and Dixon (
Jon Bernthal
Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor.
Beginning his career in the early 2000s, he came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where ...
). The three friends have been given induction notices and have 30 days to report for duty.
Feeling unprepared but convinced that he must serve, novelist Aaron embarks on a quest to prepare for the life of a soldier — enlisting the help of a collapsing
Bowflex machine and a disengaged therapist (
Ally Sheedy
Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress. Following her film debut in 1983's '' Bad Boys'', she became known as one of the Brat Pack group of actors and starred in '' WarGames'' (1983), ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985) ...
).
Corporate attorney George wishes to stay with his wife (
Ginnifer Goodwin
Jennifer Michelle "Ginnifer" Goodwin (born May 22, 1978) is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series ''Big Love'' (2006–2011) and Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fan ...
), a recent cancer survivor, rather than fight in a war that he believes is wrong. He spends much of his 30 days researching ways he can dodge the draft, but avoiding service does not prove easy.
Cab driver Dixon is the most fearless and free of doubt, but he falls in love with a sociology student (
Elisabeth Moss
Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...
), and suddenly issues that always seemed black-and-white to him are not so simple.
As reporting day, or day zero, draws nearer, the three friends fight, fallout, come together and comfort each other as each in his own way discovers what it means to "serve with honor."
Cast
*
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012).
Woo ...
as Aaron Feller
*
Chris Klein as George Rifkin
*
Jon Bernthal
Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor.
Beginning his career in the early 2000s, he came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where ...
as James Dixon
*
Ginnifer Goodwin
Jennifer Michelle "Ginnifer" Goodwin (born May 22, 1978) is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series ''Big Love'' (2006–2011) and Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fan ...
as Molly Rifkin
*
Ally Sheedy
Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress. Following her film debut in 1983's '' Bad Boys'', she became known as one of the Brat Pack group of actors and starred in '' WarGames'' (1983), ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985) ...
as Dr. Reynolds
*
Adam LeFevre as Client
*
Elisabeth Moss
Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...
as Patricia
*
Sofia Vassilieva
Sofia Vladimirovna Vassilieva (born October 22, 1992) is an American actress. Notable roles include portraying the children's book character Eloise in '' Eloise at the Plaza'' and '' Eloise at Christmastime'', Ariel DuBois in the Emmy-winning ...
as Mara
*
Zoe Lister-Jones
Zoe Lister-Jones (born September 1, 1982) is an American actress, and filmmaker who co-starred as Jen Collins Short in the CBS sitcom ''Life in Pieces'' from 2015 to 2019. She is also known for her roles in the television shows ''Delocated'' (20 ...
as Jessica Hendricks
Critical reception
''Day Zero'' received negative to mixed reviews from critics. , the film holds a 24% approval rating on the review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 21 reviews with an
average rating
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
of 4.24/10.
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
reported the film had an average score of 41 out of 100, based on 5 reviews.
References
External links
*
*{{AllRovi movie, 351351, Day Zero
Indalo Productions
2007 drama films
2007 films
2007 directorial debut films
American drama films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
English-language drama films